The present invention relates to a metaphor selecting/switching system in an information processor, which incorporates metaphor and function groups independently and selects a pertinent metaphor/function combination based on similarities calculated between them, thereby allowing information to enter or leave said system through the selected metaphor via input/output means.
Usually, an information processor incorporates a plurality of functions such as data base, word processor, graphics editor (for drawing) and communication functions.
For the information processor needed to present a user with information through a display device, on the other hand, it is desired that how to provide information and how to operate it be familiar to the user, and so various metaphors are proposed to achieve these. Used for a personal computer, etc., for instance, is a desktop metaphor which enables the computer to be seen just as a desk surface by displaying in what state the desk surface is on the display screen. Only recently, Applicant has come up with a television metaphor designed to display a television set metaphor on the display screen (cf. Japanese Patent Application No. Hei. 1-222497 now laid-open for public inspection under No. Hei. 3-84622).
Thus, a variety of metaphors have been known for presenting users with information. Usually, information processors include a plurality of metaphors, so that users can select pertinent one by switching them depending upon their tasks.
In conventional information processors, however, one metaphor is pre-matched with one function in one-for-one relation. For instance, an icon 30 letting the user image paper, as shown in FIG. 1A, is pre-matched with a word processor, so that with that icon selected, a document metaphor environment such as one shown at 32 can be displayed on a display screen 31 as shown in FIG. 1B, enabling the user to create a document.
However, the following problems arise when there are one-for-one fixed matches between metaphors and functions.
First, if there are one-for-one fixed matches between metaphors and functions, users face a very awkward problem, because they must discriminatively memorize which metaphor corresponds to which function. This basic problem becomes even so true with in mind the expectation that there will be a steady increase in the number of functions incorporated in information processors which, even now, include too many functions.
Second, the individual metaphors and functions have been managed under particular names, and a set of a certain metaphor and a function associated with it has been named according to a certain rule as well. Consequently, when there is need of changing the name of a particular metaphor/function set to a name departing from the above-mentioned rule for some unknown reasons, users unaccustomed to operating computers will get confused, because the metaphor can be seen but the function cannot run.
Third, matches between metaphors and functions are, in some cases, not necessarily familiar to users. For instance, the association of the metaphor shown in FIG. 1A with word processor functionality is not only easily understood by, but also familiar to, many users. However, many users will be puzzled, if it is associated with the metaphor shown in FIG. 1C. This is because there is mismatch between what the designer images when associating a certain metaphor with something and what a user does when seeing that metaphor. Still, it is impossible to eliminate this completely; not only does to determine what metaphor is associated with a certain function pose a design problem very difficult to solve, but the result is also not necessarily familiar to users. It has thus been pointed out that such mismatch makes it awkward for users to use computers and renders it for some users to understand computers.
Fourth, the amount, etc. of information handled by a certain function change momentarily with a user's operations; that is, a certain single metaphor alone fails to pertinently express the function with the quantity of information changing dynamically. Such a problem is not limited to the amount of information alone. Often used as the metaphor for a function which generates sounds, for instance, is a well-known musical instrument like a flute or trombone. Even when the metaphor of a trombone giving out a low-pitched sound is associated with some function, mismatch will occur between them as soon as that function is modified on a user's demand to give out a high-pitched sound such as that inherent in a flute.
Thus or generally, the problem with a metaphor and a function associated with it is that mismatch occurs between them unless they are pertinently associated with each other, because they have their own relevant ranges, much as musical instruments would have their inherent ranges. Such mismatch makes it awkward for users to use and understand information processors.